The Way of War
by sunsetsasori
Summary: Its 5 years since the trouble with the Akatsuki organisation was concluded but now Konoha has been thrown back into the depths of war. The hidden village of rocks objectives and reasons are shrouded in shadow and from the darkness step forward old enemies
1. C1: Of Summer Days

Authors note Well this is the start of my first fanfic (or at least something thats not a drabble), I hope you'll enjoy it, there will probably be copious amounts of violence later on in the story once things move into the action stages so there's a bit of a warning for you if that sort of stuff might bother you, moving swiftly on lets start

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Of Summer Days

Just inside the border of Konoha the countries famous forests stood calmly on a hot summers day; or at least that's how it might seem to an untrained eye. To a shinobi's though, the consecutive movement of the tree branches and the unnatural stirring of the leaves were enough to mark the passage of someone through the canopy.

A flash of pink darted from branch to branch trailing behind a much darker blur before suddenly coming to a stop high above the ground where the leaves were thick. The brief moment of silence really did seem peaceful but it was shattered in an instant as a kunai smashed into the tree.

The dark blur shot from the trees following the path the kunai had travelled, a pair of dark eyes scanned the trees and picked up the movement of his foe. Throwing several shuriken to the right of his opponent he landed on a branch and pushed off hard, sending chakra through his feet to enhance his speed.

He caught the shinobi as she moved from the direction his kunai had flown from and was trying to find a new place to attack from; he took in the Rock headband and her long hair at a glance and felt a slight pang as he rammed a kunai into her chest piercing her vitals. His hand was over her mouth before she could cry out; god knows how many other scouts there might be tailing them. She struggled and twitched even as her energy left her and the man could feel his top becoming soaked with the blood still flowing from her wound. She pushed against him hard and he saw the pain flash through her eyes, it startled him and his concentration slipped. They tumbled off the branch tangled together, he tried desperately to right himself but her hands were locked around him and he couldn't afford to let her make the slightest noise or signal.

The ground loomed in front of him and then everything went black, when he came to he found himself sitting upright in a tree. A shock of pink hair fell from the head of the girl crouching besides him. Her face was illuminated by a pale green light, he strained to see what had happened but he still couldn't focus clearly. He could feel the chakra melding through his arm and tying the bone back together, he must have broken it in the fall. He closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths, Sakura was a truly wonderful medic.

Sakura herself was worried, she had gone to look for the man after he hadn't come back straight away and had found him tangled with a dead rock nin on the forest floor. His arm had been broken in 3 places and they didn't have the luxury of taking the time for a full healing. She was skilled, she knew that but if the man were to be involved in combat again soon the arm wouldn't hold out long. He'd opened his eyes again and was staring at her from under black bangs, his leaf forehead protector keeping the hair out of his eyes.

"Sakura stop now, if you tire yourself to much it'll be worse than if my arm is only part healed"

Sasuke's face had become softer since he'd finally had his revenge; it was as though all his worries had lifted from his shoulder and he could finally relax.

"Sasuke its fine, I don't waste chakra and I know how much I'll need to get back to Konoha. Besides if we meet more of the enemy on the way back you'll be able to deal with them far more efficiently than I can.

A small smile slid across his features; that happened more frequently now as well.

"Whatever you say Nurse" he replied, "after all, we are being bought some time to get back and report to Konoha on the way the situation has progressed"

Sakura's mind flashed to the blonde man and his near ever-present grin, there was a possibility that she may never see him again but if anyone had the chakra to hold off 30 shinobi it was probably him. The last she'd seen of him though he'd been struggling under the weight of the enemies numbers, he'd told them to ahead and make sure the information reached Konoha.

Ignoring the scenes in her head she muttered to herself.

"We'll get there Naruto, and then we'll come back for you. Stay safe."

Sasuke's head jerked around and his eyes flashed crimson.

"Shit, they're coming. Lets go Sakura!"

Concentrating chakra precisely into their feet the two Konoha shinobi set off at top speed, the 6th needed to hear about this as soon as possible.

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I hope you enjoyed chapter one and that your interest is high enough for you to continue with chapter 2


	2. C2: Of Paperwork and Problems

Of paperwork and problems

The 6th reclined in his chair and exhaled loudly, the mountains of paperwork covering his desk simply refused to dwindle no matter how long he felt he spent working. The problems were building up one on top of the other, everything was being complicated by this war and he wasn't even sure what had caused the village of rock to attack. Konoha was as strong now as it had ever been, the current generation of shinobi were all of exceptional quality but yet this hadn't seemed to be a deterrent to their foes. He sighed as his mind wandered over some of the other dilemmas facing him.

"Jiraiya?" Genma enquired from across the room.

"Yes" Kakashi admitted, Genma was sharp of late; he must have read it from his expression. "There's still been no news"

Jiraiya's disappearance was worrying him a lot of late, first Tsunade and now the perverted hermit himself. Two of the legendary sannin disappearing from Konoha with neither a word nor trace was cause for considerable worry. It had been over a year now since the news came that Tsunade hadn't been into her office for days and that Jiraiya was nowhere to be found. Still, Kakashi had faith that they were still alive, they'd disappeared for years before after all.

Genma voiced his re-assurances, "I'm sure they're fine Kakashi-dono, we should get on with business anyway. Shall I summon the war council so we can continue developing the plans to ensure Konoha's safety?"

Genma had been Kakashi's right hand man for half a year now and was proving to be steadfastly reliable.

"Please go ahead, our reconnaissance teams should be back soon so schedule the meeting for 2 hours from now"

Genma departed, the door swinging shut behind him. Kakashi waited for a minute before moving across the room and checking Genma really was gone. Returning to his desk he unlocked a draw and slid it open, the contents wasn't something he wanted anyone else to see until he could decide what to make of it himself.

It was shortly after the disappearance of Jiraiya and Tsunade that he'd been checking through some of Tsunade's old paperwork and found the letter he now held in his hands. The parchment was tattered and covered with a large bloodstain; it contained no more than 3 words but simply reading them chilled Kakashi's spine.

"Kumo ravine – Orochimaru"

Kakashi had poured over the map scrolls in the office for an afternoon checking every tiny detail for some indication of where it might be and eventually had found it, ominously located in Iwagakure. The location had seemed nothing big compared to the author of the letter when he first found it but now it weighed heavily on his mind. The idea that Orochimaru might be involved in affairs made him uneasy, there was no doubt he was stronger than he had been the last time he'd confronted the man but he still didn't think he had enough to defeat him if they ever faced each other again.

He cradled his head in his hands briefly, the stress being placed on him of late was huge, and he felt like his head might split apart from the pressure. Not even his sharingan could tell him what was the right decision to ensure Konoha's future; on top of that with the paperwork piling up he'd not had a chance to train lately and was feeling rusty. Maybe if he went to the practice grounds for an hour before the meeting it would help him to clear his head. With that thought in his mind he slipped the letter back into the desk, carefully making sure it was locked and setting a few precautionary jutsu up around it. The 3rd had noted down some truly useful techniques in his scrolls and Kakashi had taken advantage of his privileges to learn them.

He decided he'd run to the grounds and see how his speed was after so long not testing himself, flashing from roof to roof he felt the wind on his face. His sleeveless over shirt billowed slightly but he felt comfortable although he still hadn't got used to the feeling of not wearing his flak jacket anymore. Suddenly a presence flickered on the edges of his awareness approaching at alarming speed; he had just enough time to see a thick bob of black hair, 2 bushy eyebrows and a glinting smile before the flash of tight green tracksuit passed him.

"Kakashi my old rival, you've gotten slow!" Gai was as exuberant as ever. "I doubt you can keep up with me anymore"

It had been a while Kakashi realised and in a way he'd missed Gai's bizarre obsession of them. Well, he thought to himself, this would certainly serve as both a distraction and as a good training session.

"Gai, rather than chasing around why don't we have a spar, just the 2 of us. If I recall the scores were level the last time we had a challenge; 62 apiece."

Gai stopped in a slight state of surprise, so Kakashi had kept tally after all. Despite the overtly cool manner in which he'd conducted things in public he'd been serious aftera all. The flames of passion burned inside Gai as he struck the nice guy pose.

"Lets go then Kakashi, I Maito Gai will prove my superiority today!"

Shaking his head slightly Kakashi was glad the mask he still wore covered his grin, Gai really hadn't changed. He set off after the green clad man who was already moving like a man possessed; knowing Gai he was planning on racing to the training grounds.

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and so chapter 2 concludes, chapter 3 should be up either tonight (23/05/06) or tomorrow (24/05/06), with any luck a couple of readers might have chanced by and be waiting for that to happen


	3. C3: Of Troubling Discoveries

Of troubling discoveries 

Kakashi looked into the mirror, his right eye was swelling and the puffy skin had taken on a purple tinge. He reached down and felt gingerly at his leg; having reacted slowly to react to one of Gai's kicks, the blow had caught him off guard and it felt akin to being hit with a sledgehammer. All said and done though he'd come out on top in the end and was feeling relatively happy about that. Using some rudimentary healing techniques he reduced the bruising on his eye and eased away some of the pain in his leg. He wouldn't see a medic; they were busy enough with casualties from the war as it was.

As he closed the door of the apartment he realised his mind was made up, he'd let the council see the letter and allow them to decide just what it might mean.

Genma streaked across the rooftops, he'd rounded up all but 3 of the war council and was heading towards the war room as fast as possible. It seemed that the Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura trio still hadn't returned from their reconnaissance mission, which could pose problems. Landing on the balcony of a large buiding he balanced himself before hopping down onto the walkway, he rounded the corner and slid in through the double doors at the entrance of the building.

Two other members of the council were already inside and sitting down; Gai and Shikamaru. The latter of the pair looked like he was dozing as he leant back against the wall with his eyes closed, but he raised a hand in greeting as Genma entered. Gai on the other hand welcomed him enthusiastically, something seemed a little off today and it took Genma a moment to realise that Gai's normally pristine smile wasn't there, his mouth was rather swollen and patches of dried blood were on his lips and cheek. Genma opened his mouth to ask but Gai answered before he'd managed to get a word in.

"Sparring with our esteemed Hokage" Gai's eyes twinkled. "He's gotten a little rusty"

"I still have more than enough to take care of you though" Kakashi replied as he entered.

Gai seethed inside, the timing and delivery had been perfect, another point to his old rival there but how had he managed to come up with that on the spot. Well no use worrying about it now, there were more pressing concerns to take care of but he'd be sure to analyse it later.

The 4 of them settled back into some light conversation whilst waiting for the other members of the council to arrive and within 10 minutes all but 3 seats were filled.

Kakashi checked off names, Neji, looking resplendant in his Hyuuga robes, the newly weds Asume and Kurenai, Genma, Yamato, the captain of the ANBU, Shikamaru, Gai, Shino with his hood pulled up to cover his head and Anko. There were 3 empty spots around the table, usually accompanied by the team still out on reconaissance.

"Well then shall be begin" Kakashi said looking up, shuffling through his papers he found the latest reports from the frontlines. "Our first topic is the state of the frontlines and plans for defence of Konoha should a full-scale invasion take place". Motioning for Yamato to begin speaking Kakashi sat back on his cushion.

Yamato leant forward slightly, his mask perched on the side of his head so his face was visible and started to relay the situation.

"Currently we have located clusters of Iwa nin inside our borders and have foiled several attempts to take control of areas with particular strategic benefits. The majority of their forces are however, still concentrated within their own borders although some seem to have settled in the Grass country. We are concerned that members from the hidden village of grass might be assisting them in their movements as they try to cross the borders into our country; and obviously if we have more foes than originally anticipated our plans will have to change."

The room was quiet for a moment contemplating the new possibilities untill Neji spoke up.

"Even if they are set against us it shouldn't affect our planning to great extent, they'll still be trying to cross the borders and approach Konoha from the same direction, we simply need to adapt our plans to fit the chance of greater numbers being involved in any attack."

Shikamaru had been barely moving for the last minute or 2 but perked his head up slightly on hearing this.

"That's true for about half of the problem Neji, but things run deeper than that; if the grass country are aiding the earth country in their invasion then what's to say that others will not rally to the cause. It is possible that whilst the increased pressure from their prescence causes us to increase the number of men we place in those areas, another country could strike where we are weakend. We can't rule out the chances of the hidden village of rock having made alliances with other villages and us being caught in a trap"

Neji opened his mouth to respond but Kakashi cut in before he could speak.

"Shikamaru is right Neji, we can't risk the chance of exposing ourselves to either a planned enemy attack or a chance strike from another village if they see us as weakened. Yamato, I'll leave it upto you to organise our frontlines to provide greater efficiency for the time being. I have one more bit of information I'd like to bring to your attention before we discuss the plans for an all out war. Its something I recently discovered in amongst the 5ths papers."

The lie wasn't entirely necessary but he didn't want them to think he might not trust them and so he took out the letter and passed it around the table. Mutters and a gasp from Anko were all that could be heard as it circulated, as it arrived back in his hands he folded it once and placed it in his pocket. He studied the faces of his council and could tell they'd all understood the implications it could hold, they were all looking at him now he realised waiting for him to carry on.

"As I can see you've all realised, the contents of the letter worryingly seem to connect the earth country with one of our oldest enemies; my main purpose in the meeting today is for us to discuss the full implications and consider strategic moves to counter the threat of Oroch-"

The doors crashed open, stopping Kakashi in mid sentance; standing in the center of the room with blood streaming from a large gash in his face was Sasuke supporting a groggy looking Sakura. She rolled slowly of his shoulder and fell; Sasuke tried to catch her but stumbled and nearly went down himself whilst she hit the floor with a crash.

His throat was bone dry and stinging but he managed to utter, "Orochimaru...meeting with their kage" before collapsing to the floor in a rapidly growing pool of blood.

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Quite dialogue intensive this chapter, I wanted to fill in a few more details as to how things currently stand as well as introduce what will effectively be the main players in the fic (for konoha at any rate) .


	4. C4: Of New Strategies

Of New Strategies

The room exploded in a flurry of activity, all of the committee were on their feet and Kakashi had to yell to make his voice heard over the racket.

"Gai, run and get some medics here as fast as possible" Things were tense and there was no way for him to tell the damages. As Gai bolted from the door he saw Neji standing with the byakugan activated, staring intently at the 2 bodies on the floor.

"How is it Neji?" he asked.

A grimace crossed Neji's face, "it doesn't look good Kakashi; the wound in Sasuke's head is dangerously close to his brain. Sakura seems in a better condition though, I can't see any signs of internal damage."

Kakashi wasn't sure what to do; he could use his small healing knowledge to ensure they were safe but if he got something slightly wrong it could hamper things for the medics when they arrived. Seeing his old students like that he was momentarily oblivious to the world, to the blood soaking through his trousers and to the rest of the room. It took a gentle voice to call him back to the present.

"Leave them Kakashi" Kurenai said from across the room, they're strong and they will survive. We should be discussing what to do about the hidden village of rock now we know they are involved with Orochimaru.

She was right Kakashi realised, the medics would help Sasuke and Sakura as soon as they arrived. He laid them both to rest gently on the cushions laid out for the meeting and returned to the conversation.

"Well then, lets decide what to do about this problem. My personal opinion now is that we should attempt to negate the threat from the Iwa nin as quickly as possible. They are Orochimaru's support and if we force them into submission Orochimaru won't be able to use them."

"That would also be my view" Genma stated at almost the same time as Yamato; Anko nodded her head in agreement and Kurenai and Asuma voiced their support.

"Whilst speed is of the essence, we shouldn't rush so hastily that we make any misjudgements"

Shino's words took Kakashi by surprise, he didn't speak much but his insight was incredibly sharp at times. Glancing around he saw Shikamaru nodding in agreement and Neji sitting thoughtfully. He considered Shino's words and decided that they were correct before replying.

"That's a fair point, then I suggest we send out 3 more squads to ascertain the danger posed by the Iwa nin, an accurate plot of where their troops lie and to gauge the possibility of any traps being set up. We will expand to 6 man teams for this; 3 council members will be assigned to each time. Genma, Shikamaru and Anko; you will be in charge of team 1, Asuma and Kurenai; you will be joined by Gai and will take team 2. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto will be the ones in charge of the third team. You may choose the remaining 3 members between yourselves and you should be ready to head out by tomorrow evening."

Neji spoke up, "Kakashi, there's no guarantee Sasuke and Sakura will be healed be then and we don't even know if Naruto is alive!"

Kakashi replied, his voice full of confidence, "They will be healed and Naruto will be back before it's time to head out; they've never failed me before and besides, I have something particularly important for the 3 of you I didn't assign to a team."

A look of slight confusion crossed Yamato's face as he asked, "What about my ANBU Kakashi?"

"I'll have to ask you to leave them in the care of someone trustworthy just this once Yamato, I need the 3 of you to gather information from me; both from the cloud country and from the water country. With Neji's eyes, Shino's bugs and your experience in covert operations you are best suited for the job. You cannot allow yourselves to be apprehended; I wouldn't even ask this of you if it weren't for Orochimaru but we need to make sure he hasn't contacted any other countries and set them against us."

Just as he finished his sentence the doors were flung open, Gai and the medics rushed into the building gently lifting Sasuke and Sakura onto stretchers.

"This is bad" he heard one mutter as he looked on, they had already cleaned the blood that was matting Sasuke's bangs together and were cleaning the wound as they moved. A pale light shone over Sakura eerily illuminating her features as a female medic checked for any broken bones or other problems; the expressions on her face were troubled as her chakra poured through Sakura. He watched as they carefully carried the pair past him and out of the building, towards the hospital. Slowly he turned back towards the council and asked,

"Are there any more queries?"

There were none; wrapping up the meeting Kakashi allowed everyone to depart and prepare for their missions the next day. Contemplating his team choices his mind came to rest on his old team; he had faith. Sasuke and Sakura would recover and Naruto would return safely.

"Please return safely Naruto" he murmured.

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Authors Note: Apologies for this being a short chapter, originally this was only going to be the halfway point of chapter 4 but I came to realise that if I carried on this chapter would reach probably about 2k + words and it might be quite a big chunk to take in one go. But never fear, chapter 5 will be up this evening as well and whereas 4 was mostly dialogue intensive, 5 will be launching into some good old fashioned action.

Oh, you also may have noticed but I'm not a very big fan of using Japanese suffixes i.e. dono, kun, chan in my fics. I don't really plan on changing that either p


	5. C5: Of Strength and Spirals

Of strength and spirals

A hail of Kunai parted the air, their dull silvery blues flashing as they caught the last of the afternoon sunshine. Beauty and death intertwined streaked towards its target that, stuck in mid leap had nowhere to move, no choice left but to be pierced in 20 places. The pursuers let loose a yell of triumph as it became clearer that they had hit their mark this time and the target screamed.

"Kage Bunshin"

The clone pulled Naruto hard to the side and flung him to safety; the kunai impacted a second later into its back and the clone vanished in a giant puff of grey smoke. The kunai, now devoid of their target fell to the forest floor below amidst curses from the Iwa nin.

It had been 3 hours since he'd split from Sasuke and Sakura, they should be back in Konoha by now unless something serious had gone wrong. He had anticipated being able to hold off the Iwa forces for an hour or so, which he'd managed; but they were tracking him now and not letting him slip away. He'd whittled their numbers away with some basic bunshin diversions, but at least 20 nin were still following.

He knew he couldn't last much longer; he wasn't tired but the attacks were coming more regularly and they'd started to read his movements. The only options left to him were to face them and fight for his life or to try and stumble upon a Konoha team for support, immediately he realised the latter would never work, chancing it all on the unlikely event of another Konoha team being nearby was foolish. In that case there was only one choice left to him; he slid a kunai from his sleeve and prepared to attack, if he could just catch them by surprise maybe he'd stand a chance.

He slowed his pace slightly as he leapt through the trees from one branch to another, if they thought he was tiring so much the better, but the closer he could get to them the more likely he was to catch them off guard. His pace was only a fraction of what it could be now and they were almost in range, a kunai buzzed past his ear lightly nicking his flesh; a trickle of blood ran down his cheek. There, he could make it, now, go!

Naruto concentrated chakra to his feet and aimed for the trunk of the next tree; the thicker it was the more force he could use to change direction without breaking the tree itself. He felt his foot connect, his knees compressing slightly to absorb the shock and he sprang back off it straight towards his pursuers. He had time to register the shock painted on the face of the leader of the group before his kunai flashed across the man's neck. Blood sprayed into the air as if from a fountain; Naruto knew it was a killing blow, he felt the blood spatter against his face as he flew through the group. Another 2 fell to his kunai as he passed through in a blur, leaving them no time to react. He heard the shrieks echo dimly in his ears, the sounds of bodies crashing down into the undergrowth barely registered as he landed poised on another branch and turned to face the group.

He counted seventeen of them left, their faces still showed surprise at his sudden change of tactics; that was good. He couldn't let them have time to devise a plan or he'd be in serious trouble. He flashed his hands through several seals; it was unlikely more than a handful of his opponents would be able to follow the movement.

"Katon, Fire Dragon Blast"

A large jet of fire flew towards the opposing shinobi and they scattered trying to avoid the scorching flame; one straggler was caught by the fires, his leg burning to a crisp as he fell from the trees. This time Naruto did hear the sickening crack as the man's back snapped across a branch lower down.

Despite only lessening the group by one he was happy with the result, they were far more split up now so he didn't have to worry about a full on assault from all of them and there was the added bonus that he could choose to tackle one smaller group at a time; he'd have to remember to thank Sasuke for teaching him that jutsu when he got back. His thoughts were cut off when a voice from below called out,

"Doton, Earth release"

The tree he was standing in quaked as the ground beneath roiled, branches creaked and snapped as the tree toppled slowly smashing its way through the other foliage. Naruto leapt clear as it toppled down and landed on solid ground. Forming a Kage Bunshin he moved carefully towards the direction the voice had come from.

A group of 3 Iwa shinobi were talking in low voices and warily studying their surroundings, two of the group clenched kunai in their hands whilst the third was easing a katana in its sheathe at his side. A quick hand gesture to his companions notified them that he'd seen his foe approaching and he prepared to spring as the blonde haired man entered.

The sword flashed through the air fluidly, the smooth battou jutsu split the air and connected with Naruto's side. The sickening sound of a blade connecting with flesh and splitting bone echoed around, the swordsmans smile was wiped off his face as the man in front of him disappeared in a puff of smoke and he realised the noise had come from behind him. He turned on the spot to find one of his companions already dead; a windmill shuriken lodged firmly in his skull and the other flying through the air as a result of the blonde mans kick.

That was easier than he'd planned Naruto thought, as his clone provided a distraction he'd thrown his windmill shuriken and followed after it. He'd been surprised that it killed the man instantly but hadn't wasted time; he'd turned rapidly and unleashed a kick towards the head of the other shinobi. That one should render him unconscious for at least an hour. The swordsman was slowly turning to look at the scene that had unfolded, everything seemed to have slowed down to Naruto and by the time his opponent had fully turned to face him he was already there in front of him, chakra whirling violently in his hand.

"Rasengan"

He slammed his palm into the opponent's chest, the dense ball of chakra exploding with phenomenal force as it destroyed the nin's torso. Blood erupted as the man's ribcage blew outwards; ripping through the flesh of his back and leaving a gaping exit wound. Bone scattered throughout the air; his spine had been destroyed by the impact and he spewed blood from his mouth as what little was left of his internal systems went haywire. The grass was slowly changing colour as his bodily fluids fell to the ground, a mass of intestine trailed from his already dead body; his heart and his kidneys the only other organs not completely destroyed by that raging chakra.

Naruto grimaced at the sight; he had no objection to completing his duties of a shinobi, but that didn't mean it sometimes left him feeling sick on the inside. There was no time to waste though; he still had 14 shinobi to deal with before he'd be safe. Placing his thumb in his mouth he bit it before forming several seals and placing his palm on the floor

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu"

Smoke flooded across the forest floor for a few seconds and as it a cleared a large shape, nearly twice as tall as Naruto stood in its place.

"Yo Kichi" Naruto yelled.

"Hey Naruto, its been a while" Gamakichi replied. "How can I help you out?"

"Can you give me a bit of a ride please Kichi, I might need some help for a while"

"Sure thing Naruto" Kichi said with a grin. The boy had never been the politest of humans but he'd been on good relations with the frogs and he was always making sure to take care of them for the aid they lent him.

They travelled through the forest quickly, Naruto conserving his energy as he sat on top of Kichi and posing the occasional thought to the frog.

"Say Kichi, its really handy you guys grow pretty quick huh?"

"I suppose it is, if I didn't you'd be on foot right now you ungrateful ass" he chuckled; he was happy that he'd grown quickly, if not he'd never have been any use to Naruto and wouldn't be able to share the relationship they did now.

The sound of footsteps started to come closer faintly from their left side as they entered a massive clearing in the woods. Gamakichi leapt across the ground covering massive distance with each stride and as they reached the other side of the clearing Naruto hopped down from his back.

"Kichi stay back for a minute " Naruto whispered. He could see the enemy shinobi spreading out as they entered the clearing at the other end and he counted them quickly. It seemed like the remaining 14 were together now, well that made things easier in some ways; especially with location. They were coming on at a rush now and a large Katon streaked across the sky towards him, a giant fireball cutting through the sky like a comet. A Suiton from Kichi met it and both disappeared; leaving steam floating above the clearing like a thick fog.

Naruto crouched low and shifted his hands though another pattern of seals before placing his hand to the floor.

"Ninpo, Swamp of the Underworld"

Using his sensei's jutsu triggered a feeling of loss inside him; after all it had been a year since he'd last seen Jiraiya and the perverted old man had left without saying a word. He watched the swamp spread rapidly out in front of him ensnaring the leading members of the group, behind them a couple more tried to concentrate chakra to their feet and run on the swamp. Naruto shook his head, the fools should have realised that when dealing with a jutsu that you don't know its best to evade entirely, rather than try and counter it. He watched as the swamp reacted to the attempts to channel chakra, the eddies and currents within it sucking them down into the depths; that wasn't a pleasant way to die at all.

6 of the Iwa nin had hung back to avoid the swamp and were now skirting its boundaries, he respected their perseverance but this would have to end here. He could feel his stamina waning and knew he needed to end things quickly. He jumped back up onto Kichi's back and the pair of them moved forwards slowly towards the onrushing nin, shurikens came screaming towards them; their blades whirring and humming through the air. Naruto blocked each one with a weapon of his own and yelled to Kichi

"Kichi, I need some oil."

"Ok Naruto, here we go." Gamakichi breathed deeply, bringing up oil from the depths of his stomach and exhaled hard sending a jet of the thick black liquid towards the enemy.

Naruto breathed deeply himself, arched his head back and let loose a katon towards the oil

"Katon: Toad Oil Cannon"

The oil ignited, burning white hot as it spread over the remaining nins; Naruto could hear their flesh crackling as it burnt and crackled, their eyes streamed in the heat as there bodies were consumed by the fire. The screams cut through the air like a knife this time as the men died one by one. The heat and smoke would be suffocating them whilst the fire would have scorched away their bodies; those who'd died from the initial blast were the lucky ones, the others would writhe in pain until they finally left this world.

Gamakichi's voice called out to Naruto.

"Come on boy, I'll take you back to Konoha. You've done well, rest up whilst we travel"

"Thanks Kichi" Naruto said fondly before lying down on his back and falling into a light doze.

A/N: long chapter this time, sorry it took longer than I said it would. I hope I explained most things that needed explaining in the chapter but I'll just say that outside of common jutsu that everyone knows, I'll be using English names for them.


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